Here is a little background about the museum:
"The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) was founded by Robert J. Ulrich, former CEO and chairman emeritus of Target Corporation. An avid collector of African art and a world museum enthusiast, Ulrich and his friend Marc Felix originated the idea for MIM after a visit to the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels, Belgium.
Their unique vision was to create a museum and collection that afford equal representation to the musical instruments and music of every country in the world. Using state‐of-the‐art audiovisual technology to show musical instruments being played in their original cultural context and delivering the sound of these instruments through high-quality headphones, MIM provides a one-of‐a‐kind experience to museum guests.
MIM’s
collection was assembled by five expert curators, with consultation from
distinguished ethnomusicologists, organologists, and other field experts. The
bulk of the collection is highlighted in Geographic
Galleries that focus on five major global regions.
There are also exhibition spaces such as the Target Gallery, which hosts traveling and special exhibitions, and the Artist Gallery, which includes noteworthy musical instruments and artifacts associated with some of the world’s leading musicians.
The museum opened its doors to great acclaim on April 24, 2010."
When you enter the museum you are given a small receiver with attached earphones. When you approach one of the gallery displays, you hear music from a related video being displayed on a TV screen. There are usually 3-4 short video clips and music for each display. Associated with each display are musical instruments related to the music being played. Often, the same instrument in the video is on display.There are also exhibition spaces such as the Target Gallery, which hosts traveling and special exhibitions, and the Artist Gallery, which includes noteworthy musical instruments and artifacts associated with some of the world’s leading musicians.
The museum opened its doors to great acclaim on April 24, 2010."
On the upper level of the museum, there are 10 geographic galleries (US/Canada, Europe, Africa, etc.) featuring the music and musicians from each area.
The main level has galleries featuring musical artists, an experience gallery where guests can have hands-on experience with musical instruments, a mechanical music gallery, a special exhibits gallery and the conservation lab. The museum also has a great restaurant.
The special exhibits gallery was featuring the history of the electric guitar, invented in the 1930's and which became the instrument that changed the history of American music.
There was also a special event there this weekend called Experience Canada. The event included musical performances, workshops, face painting, and a photo booth. The museum café also featured Canadian entrees, Alas, there were no mooseburgers, beaver stew or Moulson's beer. The meat pie was good however and may or may have included a little moose meat, although it was described as "beef".
We only had time to visit the Artists Gallery, the Electric Guitar Exhibit and several of the Experience Canada exhibits and activities this time, but we will be back again another time. The MIM is the top-rated attraction in Phoenix and is considered one of the best museums in the world. We don't disagree.
We also were able to get tickets to an afternoon concert at the MIM theater. It was a classical music concert by a piano trio, Trio Solisti. It was an excellent concert and a great way to end our visit to the MIM. We then headed over to Scottsdale for a great Italian dinner at a restaurant/pizzeria we had visited before.
We then headed back to the RV after a long but pleasant day.
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